Russian election chief accused of spying for Britain

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Last Updated: Mon, Jan 30, 2012 20:40 hrs

Moscow, Jan 31 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia's Central Election Commission chief Vladimir Churov has been accused of spying for Britain after he personally invited deputy head of the British diplomatic mission in Russia during the State Duma vote in December.

A group of Communist lawmakers has asked the Russia's Federal Security Service to check the country's election head about his ties with the British intelligence.

Central Election Commission head Vladimir Churov personally invited Denis Keefe, deputy head of the British diplomatic mission in Russia, to the commission's press centre in Moscow during the State Duma vote in December, the lawmakers wrote Monday.

Keefe served on Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee and is an expert on dissident movements staging "velvet revolutions," which raises questions about the nature of his ties with Churov, the lawmakers said.

The letter, authored by nine Duma deputies with the Communist Party and available on the party's website, formally requests the FSB to investigate Churov's ties with Keefe.

Neither Churov nor the law enforcement agency commented on the request as of Monday evening.